Chicago Rescue Saves 75 Cats and Dogs from Dominica Meat Trade
PAWS Chicago joined forces with Wings of Rescue to transport around 75 dogs and cats from the Caribbean Island of Dominica after the animals suffered horrific abuse.
Wings of Rescue is the charity that provided the plane and has transported 70,000 pets out of harm’s way since 2012.
Paws Chicago explained, "St. Nicholas Animal Rescue (SNAR), a shelter on the island of Dominica housing nearly 200 animals is being forced to close, and their pets were going to be euthanized, or put back on the street where they previously faced unimaginable cruelty."
The rescue goes on to say, "These pets have been through a lot. The worst abuse we’ve ever seen. Burned, beaten, unspeakable acts…in the midst of those horrors, this shelter was there to rehabilitate them. It’s a terrible loss that they had to shut their doors, but we’ll make sure every single happy ending they worked so hard for comes to fruition."
Related: Puppies Rescued From Dog Meat Trade Get Their First Taste of Freedom in U.S.
Some cats were rescued from the meat trade as well as kittens that were thrown in the river.
The status of the cat meat trade.
China, South Korea, Indonesia, and Vietnam are just some of the countries that still allow the trade and consumption of cat meat. It is estimated that over 4 million cats are slaughtered for human consumption each year.
Even though strides have been made in places like South Korea to prohibit the sale, farming and consumption of dog meat, in 2020 the Chinese government removed dogs from the list of animals that are considered farm animals but never explicitly banned cat meat.
In December 2018 in the United States, the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act of 2018 was signed into federal law, making the commercial slaughter and trade of cat meat illegal and punishable by a fine of $5,000.
If you would like to help the dogs and cats that PAWS heroically rescued from Dominica, you can click here for donation opportunities.
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